All Hallow's Eve
by WeaponFanfic
Summary: The annual Halloween costume ball at Kadic is underway. What will everyone dress as and will everyone get what they want by the end of it all?
1. The Big Announcement

**All Hallow's Eve**

_The annual Halloween costume ball at Kadic is underway. What will everyone dress as and will everyone get what they want by the end of it all?_

Disclaimer: Code Lyoko was created by Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain. It was produced by Antefilms and then by MoonScoop. It is aired in France by France 3 and in America by Cartoon Network. The author is neither employed by or affiliated with any of the above companies or entities.

* * *

"Attention students! Attention!" 

Both the students and faculty of Kadic Academy stopped all of their activities and turned their attention to the voice of Principal Delmas booming on the loudspeaker system.

"Tomorrow's afternoon classes will be canceled to prepare for the annual Halloween costume ball. All those who wish to volunteer for gymnasium decoration please report to Mr. Jim Morales for all available assignments. That is all."

The population of the academy went about their business as soon as the announcement ended. Some students stayed in the cafeteria to continue eating their lunch. Others went to look for Jim immediately before all of the easy assignments were taken. For the Lyoko warriors, the announcement became the new topic of discussion.

"So, Jeremie," Odd asked. "What are you going to be for Halloween?"

Jeremie scratched his head. He was planning to do something good for Halloween in order to impress Aelita. However, after a week of deep thought, he couldn't think of anything he felt was good. "I'm not sure," he said. "I haven't really made a decision on that."

Odd turned his attention to his best friend. "What about you, Ulrich?"

"A World War II soldier," he said. "Yumi and I caught an old war movie on TV a few nights ago and I thought it'd be kinda cool." He turned to his girlfriend who sat beside him. "Did you decide on anything yet?"

"A kunoichi," Yumi replied. "I figure everyone has seen what a male ninja looks like. It's time to expose them to what a female one looks like." She now turned her attention to Aelita. "And what about you?"

Aelita shook her head. "Sorry, gotta keep that one a secret."

Everyone at the table looked at Jeremie. "Hey, don't look at me," he said, feeling the eyes of his friends stabbing at him for answers. "I tried asking her already and got nothing out of it." The computer genius turned towards Odd. "So, now that you know what we're going to do, what are you doing for this year's dance?"

"That's easy," Odd said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm going as me!"

Ulrich looked puzzled. "Um, Odd, I know you're quite a character, but going as yourself isn't going to impress anyone."

Odd glared. "Funny. What I meant to say was I'm going as my Lyoko self."

Yumi nodded. "Very impressive, Odd."

Odd performed the thumbs-up sign. "Yep, I can do that and everyone will think it's so original. That way, whenever anyone asks about my inspiration, I can tell them about our Lyoko adventures... with me as the hero, of course."

Jeremie laughed. "Good thing it's Halloween or else people would think you've gone crazy."

Odd's face lit up. "Hey, I know. Why don't we all go as our Lyoko selves? Make it a group costume thing."

"Sorry," Ulrich said. "Yumi's been complaining that I've been getting way to deep into Japanese culture lately. With my alter-ego as a samurai warrior, she'd be scared witless."

Yumi gave her boyfriend a swift kick in the shins in retaliation for the comment. "And there's no way I'm going to do that. I hated the whole painted-face thing when we first got there. Thank goodness Jeremie changed costumes for us."

Odd looked over at Aelita. "Sorry, secret costume. And my Lyoko one is out of the question."

Odd sighed then turned to Jeremie. "Hey, Jer, I wonder what you'd look like if you ever entered Lyoko."

Ulrich laughed. "With all that computer equipment he works with, probably a cyborg."

Jeremie laughed along with everyone else. "You know, one day I want to find out what I really look like. Should be interesting."

"Whatever it is, you'll look good in it," Aelita said as he leaned on his shoulder. Everyone else said "Aww!" as Jeremie blushed. Almost by instinct, Aelita kicked Ulrich in the shin. She immediately sat back up when she realized who the victim of the attack was. "Oh, sorry. I was aiming for Odd." Ulrich winced in pain as Yumi stifled a giggle and Odd pulled up his legs.

Yumi turned her attention to Odd. "So, who's the lucky girl that gets to go out with Odd the tarantula killer?"

"I was thinking of asking Azra out to the dance," he answered.

"Hey, wait," Ulrich said, finally recovering from the leg blows he received. "I thought she blew you off since she found out you snitched on Herve and Nikolas?"

Odd fidgeted. "Well... yeah, but I figure that should be a long time ago. Second time's the charm, as they say."

"I thought it was third time's the charm," Aelita corrected.

"Whatever." He looked around and found Azra sitting at the far end of the cafeteria. "Well, here I go. Wish me luck." Odd got up from his table and walked over.

Azra put down her cup of tea once Odd had arrived at her table. "I thought I made it clear I do not communicate with brudalahs such as yourself," she spat.

Odd rubbed his neck. "Well, they say time heals all wounds and I figured this wound should be fine."

Azra sighed. "What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Halloween costume ball with me tomorrow."

She glared at him. "And I would want to go with you because...?"

Odd spent no time thinking of an answer. "All pretty girls such as yourself deserve to have a date to take them to a costume ball."

Azra pondered on that last comment. She didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. "I'll tell you what," she said. "Last time you spoke to me you said you were interested in learning Turkish. If you can find a way to ask me to the dance tomorrow in Turkish, I might consider it."

Odd beamed with joy. "Cool! Then I'll be back tomorrow." He walked away with a smile etched on his face that stayed there until he met back up with his friends.

"So, I take it she's going with you tomorrow?" Aelita asked.

"Nope," he responded. "Not until I learn to ask her in Turkish."

"But you don't know Turkish," Jeremie said.

Odd nodded. "Exactly, which is why I need to ask you if I can use your computer after school to look it up, Jer, ol' buddy."

"Sorry," he said, putting his hand up in a stop signal. "I need it to work on Lyoko stuff today."

"But, Jeremie," he whined, "I need a date for tomorrow. I don't want to be the only one dateless in this group."

"And I need to work on Lyoko," he retaliated. "Sorry, but saving the world is a little bit more important than getting a date for a dance."

Odd grumbled. "Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically.

"Don't worry," Yumi said, "I'll help you out."

"You know Turkish?" Odd asked.

"No, dork, but I have a computer. I'll look it up for you then give you the file in the morning so you have time to memorize it and say it right."

"Oh, thanks, Yumi," he said with a large grin. "I owe you one."

"In due time," she responded. With that, the group got up and prepared the the afternoon round of classes.


	2. Hiroki's Dilemma

The afternoon bell rang throughout campus, signaling the end of the school day. Yumi and Ulrich began the walk to her house when Hiroki decided to tag along.

"I thought you were going to Johnny's house today," Yumi asked, slightly annoyed that her brother ruined the romantic walk the two lovebirds were about to share together.

"Yeah, I was, but I needed to ask Ulrich something... in private," he responded, trying to signal that his sister should stay out of this man-to-man talk.

Ulrich was quite fond of Hiroki but he didn't want to anger his girlfriend either. He had to think of a compromise quick. "Um, Hiroki, that's going to be kinda hard we're all going to the same place together."

Hiroki sighed. He needed an answer to a question but didn't need the ridicule that could come with it. Nevertheless, he pressed forward. "OK, I can't think of a costume for the ball. I want to go as something really cool but I also want to impress a certain someone there."

Ulrich grinned. Both he and Yumi knew that Milly was that 'certain someone' Hiroki wanted to impress so badly. "What about a character from one of those mangas you read so much? I'm sure there are some cool designs you can get from there."

"Yeah, but a lot of those are way too elaborate. I don't want to scare her with some demon costume," he said.

"What about that boy detective you read about so much?" Yumi chimed in.

"Him?" he asked, annoyed at the thought. "He's cool in the mangas but he looks like a dork."

"I don't know," she said. "I think he looks kinda cute."

"Cute works with the ladies," Ulrich added. "Play your cards right and it could get you to first base." Ulrich winced as he received a punch in the shoulder from Yumi for that comment.

Hiroki looked perplexed. "What's 'first base?'"

Now Yumi was more annoyed than before for having Ulrich put the baseball analogy in his head. Rather than retaliate, she decided to do something that would make her happy and drive her little brother away.

"'First base' is when..." Ulrich's explanation was stopped when Yumi turned his head around and planted a deep long kiss on his lips. She smiled when she pulled away and was met with a smile from her boyfriend in return. "Something like that," he said, finishing his explanation.

"Oh." Hiroki beamed with excitement at the thought of receiving his first kiss from a girl he was madly infatuated with. He decided to ditch the couple and go home right away to find the clothes he needed to match the character in question.

Yumi smiled, glad that her plan had worked. "Ah, to be young again. When cute was all you needed to get someone."

"Speaking of cute..." Ulrich interjected.

"No."

"What? I haven't said anything," he said defensively.

Yumi glared. "No, but you were about to ask me to wear a sailor fuku for you."

"And what makes you think that?" Ulrich asked.

"OK, it's Halloween tomorrow. You've got a big interest in anything Japanese and you have a Japanese girlfriend. What else would you want to ask me in private?"

"I'm surprised at you," he said, defending himself again. "That's a very stereotypical assumption."

"So were you thinking it?" she asked.

"Absolutely not," he responded. Inside, he knew he just lied to himself. Yumi knew exactly what he was thinking and what he thought he could get due to the season. However, since he was just blocked, he figured he would have to wait another 364 days before he would hope she could change her mind.

"Well, then, I'm sorry I accused you of thinking that." She pulled herself closer to him and squeezed his hand a little tighter. "We better get to the house, then, before Hiroki trashes it." With that, the couple headed for the house to commence with their study date.


	3. Turkish Delight

The morning sun had broken through the sky, signaling the beginning of the day. Yumi rushed out of her house carrying her backpack and another bag that housed her costume. She made her way to campus and was immediately on the hunt for a certain friend.

"Hey, Odd," Yumi called out. She wanted to find him quickly and thought that the first place she would find him would be the cafeteria. She was glad her first hunch paid off.

Odd looked up from his plate of donuts and hot chocolate. "What's up, Yumi."

"Have you seen Ulrich?" she asked.

Odd took another bite of his donut. "Last time I saw him, he was getting ready for school."

"Good." She opened her backpack and pulled out a tiny MP3 player complete with headphones. "Here's the phrase you asked for. It seems kind of tricky to pronounce so you definitely should practice it a few times. Also, I'm calling in my favor." She handed him the costume bag. "Can you put this in your closet, please?"

"Is this your ninja costume?" he asked.

"No questions. Just go."

Odd got out of his seat and put the headphones on. He kept playing back the phrase over and over as he exited the building. At the same time, Ulrich entered the cafeteria, sharply dressed as usual. He immediately waked over to Yumi and gave her a quick kiss. "Hey, you're here early."

"It happens," she responded. "I had some things to take care of."

"Would you care for some breakfast, my lady?" he asked, offering his arm to her.

"I would love some breakfast, good sir." With that she took his arm as they both made their way to the cafeteria line.

After the lunch of fried chicken was served, classes ended for the day. Some went to relax while others went to go make last-minute alterations to their costumes. Odd and Jeremie had volunteered to help out the committee and were assigned decoration duty.

"So, Einstein, you think of a costume yet?" Odd asked as he hung one end of a banner to a beam in the gymnasium.

"Still have no idea," Jeremie responded as he hung the other end of the banner. "And I still can't figure out what Aelita has planned."

"Bummer." Both of them got down from the ladders and turned around to check out the stage. What they saw amazed them. Aside from the giant speakers and microphone they saw a drum set, lead guitar, bass guitar, and a DJ turntable station. "Wow!" Odd said. "Now that's an amazing setup."

"It better be, especially for those guys." Jeremie pointed to the stage where Jim accompanied 3 men who picked up the instruments and began tuning them.

"Hey, nephew," Jim said, "thanks for playing at our dance tonight. The kids will really appreciate it."

"Not a problem, Uncle Jim," Chris said as the lead singer tweaked his guitar. "It's the least we could do for the school that gave us such a killer DJ."

Jeremie suddenly discovered one part of the secret Aelita had, though he still had no idea what kind of costume she was going to wear.

"Looks like you just found your inspiration for a costume," Odd said to Jeremie.

"So I did. And it looks like you've got your chance to impress Azra." He pointed over to the girl in question who was busy filling up balloons with helium.

Odd walked over to Azra who took the time to stop her task and pay him some attention.

"So," she said, "have you come to impress me?"

Odd cleared his throat. He had prepared all day for this one moment and now was the moment of truth. "-cekti sen... beğenmek -e doğ...ru git...gid...mek belgili... tanımlık... dans etmek ile beni?"

Azra widened her eyes. If she did not hear it with her own ears, she would have never believed that Odd asked her to the dance in Turkish. "Very impressive, Odd. You learned to say that perfectly."

"So do you want to go with me to the dance?" he asked.

"evet I -cekti aşk -e doğru gitmek."

Odd looked confused. He expected to ask her in Turkish but he didn't expect her to answer in Turkish. "Um, is that a yes?"

Azra laughed. "Yes, I will go with you to the dance."

Odd beamed. "Cool. So I'll meet you here." Azra nodded as he walked way, smiling at Jeremie as he did.


	4. The Big Ball

The night was perfect for Halloween. There was a slight chill in the air as a full moon cast an eerie white light across the land. At Kadic Academy, the campus was lit with decorated jack-o-lanterns, creating a pathway to the gymnasium. The whole student body and faculty began to enter the facility in various costumes. Some opted for the fantastic as they dressed up as royalty and famous celebrities. Others went for the more horrific as they dressed up as vampires, witches and other various ghouls.

Ulrich stood outside and patiently waited for his date to arrive. With the old movie as his guide, he dressed the part of an American G.I. to a T. He wore brown combat boots with dark green army fatigues and a brown utility belt. He even found a dark green iron helmet with cloth straps that he let hang low on each side. He looked at his watch one last time before looking up to see his date arrive. "Ready to go in?" he asked.

Yumi had pulled out all the stops to make her costume shine. She wore black boots with an indentation for the big toe only. Her beige pants and shirt tightly wrapped around her body while her arms were covered by the sleeves of the long gloves she wore. Her hair was tied back and a headband covered her forehead. She also had the scarf covering her mouth. "Sure," she said, pulling down her scarf to breathe a little better.

"Say, where's Hiroki?" he asked.

Yumi turned around. "I thought he was behind me." She scanned around before finding him already waiting at the entrance. "There he is," she said, pointing to his general direction.

Hiroki stood at the entrance with a nervous look on his face. He wore brown loafers with white socks that reached halfway above his legs. He sported dark blue shorts with a solid white shirt covered by a blue sort coat. To top it all off, he wore a red bow tie and black rimmed glasses.

"You OK?" Ulrich asked.

Hiroki looked down at his feet. "Yeah," he said. "Just nervous about what Milly would say when she sees me in this. I still think I look like a dork."

"Don't worry," Ulrich assured him. "You look good."

"Really?"

"You sure do," said a voice that caught the attention of Yumi's little brother.

Hiroki turned to see Milly in her costume. She wore knee-high boots with black leather pants. She had a red leather vest and a white long-sleeved shirt that ended where her yellow gloves began. She sported a long white scarf and had a plastic blue guitar slung over her back.

"I'm impressed," she said. "You really nailed the look of the character."

Hiroki beamed with pride and surprise. "I didn't know you were a manga fan?"

"Are you kidding? That character is one of my favorites," she explained.

Hiroki got more of a confidence boost now that he and Milly shared a common interest. "Did you read about the one where he..."

Yumi smiled as her brother and the school reporter struck up a conversation and decided to leave them behind. "They look cute together."

Ulrich nodded. "Shall we?" he asked. Both of them finally decided to go inside.

"Wow, this place looks terrific," she commented as she saw the decorations. Balloons with silhouettes of skulls and spiders filled the ceiling as fake webbing lined the walls. The banner that read 'Scream Scene' seemed to be made of old parchment and written in blood. A thin coat of dry ice smoke glazed over the floor and rose up a small distance anytime anyone took a step. As both of them took in the sights, Yumi spied Odd by the punch bowl and decided that they should both meet up with him there.

Odd took a sip of his punch as he waited for his date to arrive. He put down his cup when he saw his friends headed in his direction. "Nice costumes, guys."

Ulrich returned the compliment. "No, your's is nice. You got the look nailed."

Odd flexed his fingers. "Well, the paws were giving me some trouble but in the end it all came together. Say, have you guys seen Azra?"

Yumi pointed behind Odd. "Looks like she's coming this way."

Odd turned around to see Azra dressed as a super villain. She wore black boots with a long purple coat. She had a brown satchel bag slung over her shoulder and dyed her hair white. "Now isn't this peculiar," she said. "A super villain being taken to a dance by a super hero. What will people think?"

"Hey, even heroes and villains need to party every once in a while." He turned back to wave at his friends. "Catch you guys later," he said as he accompanied Azra.

"So, have you seen our little Einstein yet?" Yumi asked.

Ulrich pointed to an area near the stage. "I can't believe what he's wearing," he said to Yumi as they both walked over to him.

Jeremie stood by the stage waiting for a moment to arrive. He wore red canvas sneakers and dark blue baggy jeans. He had a black hoodie sweatshirt with a a brown messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He had a red baseball cap with curved rim and a pair of headphones connected to his MP3 player hanging around his neck. "What's up, guys?"

"Cool costume, Jeremie," Yumi commented. "What made you come up with this?"

"I think I found out part of the secret Aelta's been trying to hide from us, so this costume should match hers."

"Oh? So you found out what she's going to be this Halloween?" Ulrich asked.

"Looks like we'll find out soon enough," Jeremie said as he nodded towards the stage.

Jim walked on stage donning his disco costume from his one and only movie appearance. The crowd went wild once he appeared and, for a moment, he was able to take in the fame he basked in so many years ago. "Thank you all for showing up to the annual Kadic costume ball," he said as he took the mic to address the crowd. "Now tonight we have a very special guest. I had to pull a few strings to get these guys to come here before their tour so I hope you all appreciate them being here." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Ladies and gentlemen... the Subdigitals."

The gymnasium lights all shut off as the dry ice fog rose to touch the stage floor. The first spotlight shone and the crowd cheered loudly as the drummer of the band, Chris, came out from behind the stage. He wore a heavy suit of green armor complete with scorch marks where bullets would have hit. His helmet was also colored green and the reflective gold visor covered his face well. He raised his arms above his head and flung them forward, ejecting a drumstick from each wrist, catching them as it flew by before taking his seat behind the drum set.

A second spotlight shone over the bass guitarist, Ben. His suit of armor closely resembled that of Chris except his had a dirty steel color to it and an insignia of a gear with a skull in it colored white. Unlike his colleague, he did not wear a helmet, opting instead for a black bandana to cover the top of his head. He picked up his bass guitar, which had splotches of blood on the neck of the instrument.

The final spotlight shone on the lead guitarist and singer of the band, Nico. His suit of armor was lighter and less bulkier in comparison with the rest of his band mates. The light parts were colored black and covered all of his body while the heavier portions were orange and covered his legs, shoulder and chest. His breastplate had a faded white lambda symbol on it and nothing on his head.

Chris counted the band in before the lights came back on and the band broke out into song. As they played one of their numerous hits from their debut CD, the crowd began to dance. Everyone hit the dance floor except for Jeremie. While he did enjoy the free concert, he was still wondering where Aelita was. The Subdigitals performed for about an hour, playing some cover songs, some songs from their previous albums, and songs from their latest album that was set to release in a few months. When the last song had played, Nico grabbed the mic to make an announcement.

"Hey, thanks everyone. We're going to be taking a little break but in the meantime I want you all to give it up for the girl that will be on some of our tour stops spinning the wheels of steel. She comes from right here in Kadic Academy..." He was interrupted by the loud cheers all of the students and faculty gave out before he was permitted to continue. "Ladies and gentlemen, our latest DJ, Aelita Stones!"

Jeremie stood up and took notice as the rest of the crowd cheered wildly. Aelita had come out in her pink Lyoko costume, complete with transparent skirt and impromptu wings. She took her place at the booth and pulled out two records from the crate. After moving a few levers around, she put on her headphones and began to play. Her forty-five minute set included everything from pop to techno and house to hip-hop. The crowd was jumping during the set, even going so far as to creating a makeshift breakdancing circle when the hip-hop played. As she took one final scratch on the record, she took off her headphones. She took a bow as the crowd cheered wildly. She began to walk off stage when Nico and the rest of the band returned. He quickly grabbed the mic and began to speak.

"Whoa, hold on there, Aelita," he said, causing her to stop. "Don't you think these guys want to hear the song you did with us?" She blushed as the crowd cheered and demanded that they hear the song. The cheering grew when she returned to the DJ booth and put her headphones on again. "Alright, this next one is the latest from our new album and it's going to be our first single off the album. In fact, you can download it off our site starting tomorrow. And if her boyfriend is in the audience tonight, yes, she's in the album and gets a song credit for this." The crowd laughed while Jeremie blushed.

The song started with light guitar strums and a slow drum beat before picking up in speed and becoming a fast catchy tune that the band was known for. In the middle of the song, Aelita was given a good record scratching section where she took parts of the chorus and remixed them into a melody of scratches and words. From that point the song continued till the end. This time the crowd was joined by the band in applauding Aelita for a job well done. She took another bow before going off stage while the band played on.

"That was amazing!" Jeremie exclaimed as she approached Aelita.

"Thanks," she responded. "I could say the same for you. Very nice costume."

Jeremie grinned. "Well, you were the inspiration for this."

Aelita returned the grin with one of her own. "So does that mean you'll be spinning the 1s and 2s with me later on?"

Jeremie's grin disappeared and was replaced with a look of confusion. "Uh, what?"

"Never mind," she said before giving him a kiss that took all the senses away from Jeremie's head. "Shall we dance?" Jeremie was brought back to reality as Aelita led him to the dance floor.


	5. AfterParty

After another hour of great song after song, Nico took the mic once again. "Kadic Academy, thank you for having us tonight." The crowd roared in approval. "But were not done here yet. A dance is never complete without some slow songs and I know the couples out there will kill us if we didn't do them. So we're going to end the night with a couple of slow jams to get you all in the mood." He began to do a slow guitar strum as all the couples paired up and the dance floor became a sea of slowly swaying bodies.

Ulrich looked at Yumi who looked right back at him. While they were both hopeless romantics, both of them were never fans of slow dancing. They both looked around to check on the status of their friends. Odd and Azra were wrapped in each other's embrace, though Odd would be the first to admit that having two giant cat paws on a girl's back did look kind of silly. Jeremie and Aelita stood close to each other, their foreheads and noses touching each other as they gazed into each other's eyes. Hiroki and Milly attempted to slow dance, both of them laughing as they kept messing each other up. With everything looking to be alright, Yumi nodded to Ulrich. Both of them got up and quietly left the party arm in arm.

"You mind if I walk you home?" he asked.

"Actually," she said, "I was thinking of walking you back to your place."

Ulrich was surprised but learned never to argue with a woman who has her sights set on something. As he unlocked the door and opened it, he was stopped by Yumi.

"Wait out here. I've got a surprise for you." She closed the door and locked it behind her.

Ulrich stood outside, perplexed at what had just happened. He really had no idea what his girlfriend was planning. Moments later, the door opened and Ulrich almost fainted at the sight before him.

Yumi had changed her costume completely. She wore brown loafers with knee high socks that were rolled down to her ankles. She had a dark blue skirt that ended halfway above her thighs. Her blouse was a short sleeved white and blue number that had a red tie and stopped above her belly. "What do you think?" she asked.

Ulrich's heart raced. It took him a few moments to finally recover and get his head straight. "I thought you said you were never going to wear one."

"And you said you never fantasized about me wearing this," she retorted. "You obviously are a bad liar, Ulrich Stern. So, do you like it?"

Ulrich entered the room and grabbed his girlfriend by the waist. "I love it. You look amazing."

"Good" she said, "because I'm never going to wear this again." She smiled, happy that her boyfriend was happy. "Now be a good soldier and close the door."

"Yes, ma'am." He leaned in for a kiss while he kicked the door shut.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

_Story #3 is done and finally published. I had another fic I wanted to publish first but with Halloween coming up, I suddenly felt the urge to get a short Halloween themed fic out there. Nothing too deep, just a fun little read._

_As I've done with my previous fics, here are a few author's notes about the story. Often I've felt that these help out readers know little tidbits they might have missed or give them more insight as to why they did what they did. _

_-Time constraints: I had this story in my mind 3 days before Halloween hit. I wanted it to hit the net the day of or the day before Halloween so time was definitely not on my side. With that in mind, I had to plan out exactly where I wanted the story to go and get there without adding in anything unnecessary. At the same time, I wanted to throw in as many characters in as many good angles in that short amount of time. It certainly was a challenge but I definitely don't recommend doing that for writers that love to belt out every detail with their characters._

_-Story similarities: Around this time last year, an author with the pen name Circus Runaway wrote a story titled "A Halloween Dance." It was a good story. A very good read if you like a little light romance and lots of humor. Amazingly enough, one year later, I had the same idea running through my head. I never tried to copy the story. I never even heard of it until I ran across it when I was checking out story titles to make sure I wasn't taking one already there. And no, I'm not Circus Runaway. Just wanted to cover my bases in case someone were to point this out._

_-References: Aside from the ones made to TV episodes, it's not safe to assume that all readers know where the inspirations for the costumes came from. So, aside from the generic, here are some character costume choices and the sources of inspiration:  
Yumi: Ibuki (Street Fighter 3)  
Hiroki: Conan (Detective Conan)  
Millie: Haruko Haruhara (FLCL)  
Azra: Charmcaster (Ben 10)  
Chris: Master Chief (Halo)  
Ben: Marcus Fenix (Gears of War)  
Nico: Dr. Gordon Freeman (Half-Life)  
_

_Hope you enjoyed this one. As usual, positive reviews are nice, criticism is welcome, and flaming ain't cool. The next fic will be a long one but hopefully you'll find it worthwhile._


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